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Evolutionary psychology is defined as a research program that views the human mind as a collection of task-specific cognitive mechanisms [1], [2]. These mechanisms are considered adaptations shaped by natural selection to solve recurrent ancestral problems [3], [4], and the field utilizes functional analysis to discover and empirically test these mechanisms [5], [6], [7].
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Evolutionary Psychology | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy iep.utm.edu 16 facts
claimThe task of psychology, within the framework of evolutionary psychology, is to establish that current humans actually possess the cognitive mechanisms that evolutionary theory predicts were shaped by natural selection.
referenceThe theoretical framework of Evolutionary Psychology is based on five key ideas: (1) cognitive mechanisms underlying behavior are adaptations; (2) these mechanisms must be discovered via functional analysis; (3) these mechanisms are adaptations for solving recurrent adaptive problems in the evolutionary environment of ancestors; (4) the human mind is a complex set of domain-specific modules; and (5) these modules define universal human nature.
claimEvolutionary Psychology in the narrow sense is a circumscribed adaptationist research program that regards the human mind as an integrated collection of cognitive mechanisms that guide behavior and form universal human nature.
claimEvolutionary psychologists claim that the cognitive mechanisms underlying behavior are human universals, but they maintain that behavior results from the complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors.
claimEvolutionary Psychology posits that the human mind is not an all-purpose problem solver, but rather a collection of independent, task-specific cognitive mechanisms, or instincts, adapted for solving evolutionary significant problems.
claimFunctional analysis in evolutionary psychology predicts the existence of unknown cognitive mechanisms based on evolutionary reasoning about potential adaptive problems in the Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA), which are then empirically tested.
referenceRichard Samuels' paper 'Evolutionary Psychology and the Massive Modularity Hypothesis' (1998) criticizes the evolutionary psychology insistence on the domain-specificity of cognitive mechanisms, arguing that a domain-general architecture using domain-specific information would be equally effective.
claimEvolutionary psychologists distinguish between adaptive behavior and the cognitive mechanisms that are adaptations for producing adaptive behavior.
claimEvolutionary psychologists assert that human universals exist at the level of functionally described psychological mechanisms because the modules of the human mind have been subject to constant selection over a vast stretch of time.
procedureEvolutionary Psychology utilizes a method known as 'functional analysis' to discover cognitive mechanisms, which involves starting with hypotheses about adaptive problems faced by ancestors and inferring the cognitive adaptations that evolved to solve them.
claimEvolutionary Psychology posits that cognitive mechanisms are adaptations for solving recurrent adaptive problems in the evolutionary environment of ancestors, rather than problems prevalent in the modern environment.
claimThe purpose of Evolutionary Psychology is to discover and explain cognitive mechanisms that guide current human behavior by identifying them as selected solutions to recurrent adaptive problems prevalent in the evolutionary environment of ancestors.
claimEvolutionary psychologists argue that natural selection is a slow process and there have not been enough generations since the Pleistocene for new cognitive mechanisms to evolve that are specifically adapted to post-agricultural industrial life.
claimEvolutionary psychologists argue that human psychological mechanisms are adapted to Pleistocene environments because the human species spent over 99% of its evolutionary history as hunter-gatherers in those conditions, rather than the brief period since the advent of agriculture or industrialization.
claimIn Evolutionary Psychology, cognitive mechanisms are considered adaptations, which are traits present today because they helped ancestors solve recurrent adaptive problems in the past.
claimEvolutionary Psychology is sometimes charged with defending the status quo regarding sex, race, and intelligence differences by arguing that these differences are the result of hard-wired cognitive mechanisms and are optimal solutions to adaptive problems.
Evolutionary psychology - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 5 facts
claimEvolutionary psychologists seek to understand psychological mechanisms by identifying the survival and reproductive functions those mechanisms served over the course of evolutionary history.
claimEvolutionary psychology proposes that most human psychological mechanisms are adapted to reproductive problems frequently encountered in Pleistocene environments, as most human adaptations evolved or were maintained by stabilizing selection during the Pleistocene.
claimPotential psychological mechanisms studied in evolutionary psychology include the abilities to infer others' emotions, discern kin from non-kin, identify and prefer healthier mates, cooperate with others, and follow leaders.
claimEvolutionary psychology posits that domain-general learning is impossible due to the combinatorial explosion, and instead specifies that psychological mechanisms are focused on problems of survival and reproduction.
claimEvolutionary psychologists argue that the mind possesses modularity, meaning different psychological mechanisms evolved to solve distinct adaptive problems, similar to how physiological organs like the heart, liver, and kidneys evolved to perform specific functions.